Updates! *01/15* I had originally intended on keeping it short, but due to reader enthusiasm, here is a master version. Each contribution was appreciated, you freaks rock.

As an addition to the goth/post-punk/alt band masterpost, here’s a list of bands featuring members of color. Most are influential, others new discoveries or future freak gods. Thanks to research and helpful readers, here’s a bit of sick sound suitable for all taste buds:

Goth, dark or industrial:

Creature Feature– Erik X is an evil composer and organ player with a special gift for raising the dead.

Plastique Noir-the Brazilian band that made the song “Empty Streets” that’s just too dark to handle.

O. Children – contrary to popular belief, Tobi O’Kandi is not, in fact, a black reincarnation of Ian Curtis.

Dev Hynes – a British musician who started out in a punk band Test Icicles then went solo as a folk/indie musician as Lightspeed Champion and now is doing an electronic/R&B thing as Blood Orange.

L’Arc-en-Ciel – Okay, so these guys are Japan’s other most famous export. These guys got known outside of japan for doing some major anime theme songs (Fullmetal Alchemist, Gundam 00, NANA live action movie, etc) and were the first Japanese act to headline Madison Square Garden (Japanese rock bands really like New York for some reason). Their bassist tetsuya (formally known as tetsu) gets bonus points for being one of Japan’s only out LGBT celebrities (he’s Bi).

Tenger Cavalry – a folk metal band based out of Bejing who describe their style as “Mongolian folk metal”. Like this and you’d probably enjoy Ego Fall.

Cthonic – Taiwanese metal band who’s lead singer is also the president for the Taiwanese branch of Amnesty International.Most of their music deals with their goal of an independent Taiwan and they’re really REALLY great.

Body Count– Ice T’s metal band rules. It would be a little tastier with ice cubes though.

Hirax – pioneering thrash/speed metal band (with hardcore influences). Katon De Pena is one of the most distinctive vocalists of the then-burgeoning California metal scene. Though they never achieved the success of some of their contemporaries like Metallica or Slayer, they have long been an insiders’ favorite and cited as an influence by bands ranging from Napalm Death to Cannibal Corpse to Darkthrone.

X Japan – Probably Japan’s most famous metal export. These guys are the reason Visual Kei (basically Japan’s gothic metal scene) exists. All those flashy JRock bands wouldn’t exist without X Japan. They also recently just played a huge show at Madison Square Garden.

Maximum the Hormone – Also known as “the guys that did that weird opening and ending to death note”, MTH do a fantastic combination of metal, punk, and even pop. The best part about MTH is that their lyrics don’t make sense even when translated so you can just have mindless fun listening to them even if you understand Japanese.

Suffocation – one of the most influential death metal acts of all time. Terrance Hobbs’ incredible mastery of the guitar allowed the band to blend complex technicality into the genre without sacrificing raw brutality.

Acrassicauda – Iraqi heavy metal. There is a film called “Heavy Metal in Baghdad”, about the band. Another documentary called Global Metal, which is by the same director as Heavy Metal: A Headbanger’s Journey, is highly recommended.

Sigh – one of the first japanese black mack metal bands led by a fierce lady.

BIS (Brand-New Idol Society) – considered “alternative Japanese idols”, and have done some amazing things including recruiting a new member who was rumored to be a high school girl and turned out to be Junko Koshino, a famous fashion designer who is 74 yrs old. Their song + video for MURA-MURA is excellent.

Go Betty Go – chicano rock, “pop punk”. Several of their songs are in Spanish.

ELLEGARDEN – JAPAN’S BEST 90s/EARLY 2000s POP PUNK ROCK EXPORT I’M NOT EVEN KIDDING. Part of what contributes to this is Takeshi Hosomi (singer/rhythm guitarist) writing ¾ of the band’s discography in perfect english. Unfortunately they went on hiatus in 2006, but that spawned two more fantastic bands: Takeshi does experimental progressive indie in the HIATUS (its the same guy I swear), and guitarist Shinichi Ubukata formedNothing’s Carved In Stone which is basically a Japanese alt. rock supergroup.

Shonen Knife – you can’t talk about japanese girl rock without the literal originators of the movement/popularity. Because Kurt Cobain said he listened them, a HUGE surge of all girl bands started popping up over Japan.

Black girls always been at forefront of rock n’ roll and punk. to all the black girls out here I hope this inspires you. NOTE This is alot of bands but its not every band. got any Suggestions send them to us at our email slashtheyassup@gmail.com or on facebook http://www.facebook.com/slashemuppunx Peace,

Honorable mention to Tamar-Kali, Alexis Brown, and Skin. They’re not technically riot grrl or punk but their music and style have that attitude (and aesthetic?) imo.

It is seriously a joy to go through my archives pulling stuff up for anyone who wants information, so please please please ask more questions like this, people! Also, reblog if I forgot to mention anyone!

Black girls always been at forefront of rock n’ roll and punk. to all the black girls out here I hope this inspires you. NOTE This is alot of bands but its not every band. got any Suggestions send them to us at our email slashtheyassup@gmail.com or on facebook http://www.facebook.com/slashemuppunx Peace,

Q: When some people hear the term “Afro-Punk”, they can’t imagine the amalgamation of the two genres. I, on the other hand, don’t find the term to be far-fetched as most, if not all, music derived from African culture. Define “Afro-Punk” to those who may not be familiar.

TK: AfroPunk is the name of a documentary I was featured in some time ago. You should definitely check it out. It’s goal was to identify a subset within a subculture in the way that ‘Beyond the Screams’ brought light to the contributions of Latinos in the hardcore scene in Chicago but on a national level. The term existed before the film as a description of an aesthetic or energy. In regards to genre; song structure, arrangement and instrumentation defines musical genre not race. So I would never discuss it in those terms. Now, if someone was doing the actual work to create this genre I would expect it to be some afrobeat/grindcore amalgamation it probably exists but that isn’t what the term as a pop culture phenomenon/lifestyle brand refers to currently. The festival highlights artists out side of the stereotype of African-American interests and culture. That is the purpose of the platform as described on their site; the music is an aspect and not genre specific. I feel you hinting at the rejection of blackness where rock music is concerned and that’s real. In the early punk rock London scene there was a whole ‘tribal’ movement. It’s clear that American indigenous and African culture inspired the aesthetic though folks rarely make the connection. That parallels to the erasing of the roots of rock n roll here in the states

“Tamar-kali crafts aggressive melodic rock spun around a voice that will shake your foundation and shatter your expectations with its soulful intensity.

The uninitiated may have initially discovered Tamar-kali through her appearances in the award winning documentary Afropunk and the Focus Features’ award winning film Pariah, with clips of incendiary performances and soundtrack contributions providing a glimpse of her unsung talent.”

Black Women Rock is a living tribute to Betty Davis — one rocking Black woman.

Davis, at one point married to legendary jazz trumpeter Miles Davis, influenced his music and went on to create a sound and imagery all her own. An icon to pioneering Black rock figures ever since, Davis is still largely unknown. BWR is a reminder.

Moore says BWR is a tribute to the “amazing lights, so many Amazon women” who are not in the mainstream.

Brooklyn-based punk artist Tamar-kali, a BWR vocalist and guitar player, says the “ground breaking and self-defining music” of Davis parallels the lives of many of the BWR artists.

“I hope to continue the legacy of Nina Simone, Grace Jones, Betty Davis,” Kali told the Michigan Citizen. “So we can (understand) that iconography or imagery is in line with true artistry.”

BWR reminds us that though the path for Black women, artists and otherwise, can be daunting, it’s not crippling.

“Despite what some say, I believe Black women always have to fight a little bit harder. Have to love a little bit deeper. Have to stand a little bit stronger. We know how to make the best out of any bad situation. There is a collective experience that deep down we understand,” says Steffanie Christi’an of BWR, who attended the African-centered Aisha Shule/W.E.B. Dubois Prepatory Academy and Wayne State University.

How come they won’t promote great artists like this on BET…I’ll never know. Fucking BET.

Because if more Black people realized that there’s more than one way to “be Black” (or, in layman terms, to EXIST period) then they’ll lose a big chunk of mindless, vapid consumers and might even have a full scale revolution on their hands.

Promote race conformity and you’ll have nice little consumers who’ll never question anything. Even though the Internet has maybe already started to change ALL of that already…

If this truly awe inspiring, hardrock, soul stirring, music composing, stage annihilating, genere defying vocalist’s music is not some where on your personal play list your life is missing something crucial…and if you ever get to see her live, BRACE YOURSELF. seriously sometimes it gets kinda moshy 🙂